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Monday, September 13, 2010

As some of you know, “Harvest Moon” just debuted (insert screaming and running around in circles). I want to share a bit about the world of Dancing Cat and her family.

**Harvest Moon is set in Northern Alberta. Somewhere between Edmonton and Fort McMurray, to be exact. I wanted a different setting. There are so few stories featuring Canada’s First Nations peoples. It was important for me to include them in my work.

**There is no bannock in Harvest Moon. (Pauses to allow the collective gasp of Western Canada to subside). Bannock is a traditional native food around these parts. When I worked at the Mustard Seed, I included raisin and cranberry bannock with my Thanksgiving meal for the homeless. Sadly, this traditional food was only developed after the white arrivals. I can’t find any evidence for it pre-European and a lot against it. So, I left it out. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make yourself a good batch of it before reading Harvest Moon. hint hint shameless promotion

**Yes, there is a bisexual character. And, yes, there is historical evidence showing that some First nations tribes historically accepted homosexuality and bisexuality. So, I included a character that was.

**No one swears or drinks in Harvest Moon. I was too embarrassed to ask my Cree-speaking peers about swear words in Cree. So, those couldn’t exist in the story. Add to that the general lack of alcohol pre-Europeans in Canada. So, Dancing Cat is the most straight-laced character I’ve ever written. It’s no wonder I made the girl change genders. Things were going too smooth for her!